Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Friday announced a $50,000 settlement with Sperian Energy Corp, a retail energy supplier that violated Pennsylvania’s Do-Not-Call Law and called Pennsylvanians on the list who do not want to receive these kinds of calls.

Sperian, a Nevada company, will pay $50,000 to the Office of Attorney General as part of the settlement. Eighty Pennsylvania consumers who filed complaints with the Bureau of Consumer Protection about the unsolicited phone calls will receive a total of $8,000 as part of the settlement, or $100 apiece. The remaining funds will go to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Treasury and the Office of Attorney General.

“If a Pennsylvania resident registers their phone number on the Pennsylvania ‘Do-Not-Call’ List, it’s illegal to call them,” Shapiro said. “Every company is obligated to comply with the Do-Not-Call Law, and Sperian failed to comply. These invasive telemarketing calls are a growing problem and we take enforcement of the Do-Not-Call Law seriously.”

In 2017, 25 percent of all complaints to the Bureau of Consumer Protection are from consumers complaining they are on the Do-Not-Call List — and still get unwanted solicitation calls.

Among seniors, the percentage of complaints filed about this problem is 34 percent. “This is the number one issue that Pennsylvania consumers complain about to my office,” Shapiro said.

The Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection investigation revealed Sperian and its telemarketers called Pennsylvania residents whose telephone numbers were registered on the Pennsylvania “Do-Not-Call” List.

If you are on the Pennsylvania “Do-Not-Call” List and you receive unwanted and unsolicited calls from telemarketers, you should contact the Office of Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or scams@attorneygeneral.gov.